Mason Jar 3-Berry Cobblers

So, you would think that after that whole Cupcake Tower of Terror disaster that I would be staying away from baking for weddings, right? Well, that is the case where cakes are concerned-no more falling frosting fiascos! But, for the same wedding, I created some yummy individual three berry cobblers in little personalized mason jars as favors for the guests to enjoy. Those did NOT fail, or fall for that matter!

The recipe was a tried-and-true favorite from a co-worker (thanks, Krista!) that was adapted for the mini jelly jars, and two batches was enough for 6 dozen jars. Here is the how-I-did-it:

1. Prepare the jars. These are 1/2 pint, wide-mouth Kerr glass jelly jars I purchased from a local Ace Hardware store, ordering them online and picking them up at the store. Despite the fact that they were factory sealed in plastic, I still ran them through the dishwasher to ensure cleanliness.

2. Prepare the crumb topping/crust. This recipe is enough for one 13 x 9 pan of cobbler, or 3 dozen mini jars. So double it for the 6 dozen:

 TOPPING/CRUST

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

2 Cups Rolled Oats (I used instant and it didn’t seem to matter at all)

1  1/2 Cups Packed Brown Sugar

1 Tsp Gground Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp Ground Nutmeg

1  1/2 Cups Cold Butter

Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl, then cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

3. Prepare the berry filling, literally just mixing the berries and sugar in a large bowl and set aside.

FRESH FRUIT FILLING

1  1/2 Cups Fresh Blueberries

1  1/2 Cups Fresh Blackberries

1  1/2 Cups Raspberries

4 TBLSP Granulated Sugar

I used fresh blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, but you can use any berry combination you would enjoy. This recipe was enough for three dozen jars, so I doubled it to make the 6 dozen. One thing I noted: the large whole raw berries (like the raspberries) take up more space, but once cooked, they collapsed and left extra room in the jar so it didn’t appear as full. Next time (and for these there will be a next time : )  I will slightly chop the larger berries so more fits into each jar prior to baking.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place as many jars that will fit onto a cookie sheet and spray the insides with non-stick cooking spray.

Take 1 TBLSP of the crumble mixture and lightly press down into the bottom of each jar. I used this wooden thing that was in my pastry drawer. Don’t know where it came from, don’t know what it is, but it worked perfectly! Continue until all of the jars have the base crust.

5. Fill each just with the berry mixture, until it is about 1/4 inch from the top. Leave room for the crumble topping!

6. Add 1 TBLSP crumble topping to each jar, pat lightly to secure. You can adjust the crumb topping/crust ratio as you like, but remember to adjust the recipe as well!

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the topping is lightly browned.

8. Remove from oven and cool. You can serve these warm from the oven with a bit of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, or save them for later. I kept them lightly wrapped, but did not seal the tops on until it was time to assemble them as favors. Which I did with the help of my dear friend-thanks Alice!

9. The personalized labels were purchased on Etsy from Snappy’s Boutique. The owner was great to work with and the labels were beautifully printed on vinyl round stickers, one for the top of each jar.

10. The bamboo wooden spoons I stamped with cute little sayings like “berry happy” and “sweet love”. Of course, you could paint them or decorate them or simply leave them blank.

11. The spoons were attached to the jars with purple raffia ribbon-the wedding color- (and a little scotch tape to keep them from sliding off!)

and then we added a second bow for pretty : ) This was the best tool-a fork stuck in a ribbon reel taped to the counter-to tie the tiny bows with the chiffon-like material. Ah, necessity is indeed the mother of invention. Shark Tank, here we come!

12. I picked up the unfinished crate at Joanns (with a coupon, of course : ).

In order to make it appear somewhat rustic, I “stained” it with paint thinned with water,

then added another coat of blueish-purplish-white paint that I dry-brushed to give it a more rustic look.

13. The little chalkboard was also from Joanns, that I backed with some fringed burlap, then added the chalk graphic.

 I used my easy chalkboard transfer method for the Three Berry Cobbler sign. Click the link for the DIY.

14. To safely stack the jars in the crate,

I added separators made from burlap-covered cardboard panels.

Done! Now who doesn’t love a rustic crate filled with pretty jars of yummy three-berry cobbler that is easily and safely transportable?!? Well, this girl does : )

And hopefully the guests did as well… Have a berry-licious Thursday everyone!! Susan